No One Could Serve the Foreign Tycoon — Until the Waitress Switched Languages!
Chapter 3
They moved through the service corridor behind the kitchen.
Emma’s shoes slipped on the polished floor.
“Where are we going?”
“Exit.”
“Why are you helping me?”
“Because your father once saved my life.”
Alexander pushed open a metal door.
Cold night air hit Emma’s face.
A black sedan waited in the alley.
Two men stood beside it.
Emma stopped.
“I don’t know you.”
“You don’t need to.”
Alexander opened the rear door.
“You need to decide whether you trust me.”
Emma looked back toward the hotel.
Sirens were already approaching.
She got inside.
Alexander followed.
The car moved before the door had fully closed.
For several minutes neither spoke.
Finally Emma said, “Tell me everything.”
Alexander looked out the window.
“Your father worked for an international shipping company. Officially, he handled financial audits.”
“I knew that.”
“Unofficially, he discovered a network moving money through false cargo manifests.”
Emma frowned.
“Money laundering?”
“Much larger.”
Alexander’s voice lowered.
“People were using legitimate shipping companies to move stolen technology, restricted equipment, and money between countries. Your father discovered the system because one of the companies belonged to me.”
Emma looked at him.
“You were involved?”
“My company was used.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“And my father trusted you?”
“Eventually.”
Alexander removed another photograph.
“This was taken three days before he died.”
Emma studied it.
Her father was standing beside Alexander again.
But there was something else.
A red folder sat on a table.
Emma recognized the handwriting on it.
Daniel had written:
BLACK ORCHID
“What is Black Orchid?”
“A name.”
“For the organization?”
“Yes.”
“Who runs it?”
Alexander shook his head.
“We never found out.”
Emma stared at the folder.
“You said my father trusted you.”
“He did.”
“Then why didn’t you protect him?”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“Because he lied to me.”
Emma blinked.
“What?”
“He told me he had destroyed the evidence.”
“But he hadn’t.”
“No.”
Alexander looked directly at her.
“He hid it.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Emma’s stomach tightened.
“Then why are you here?”
“Because six years ago your father gave me one instruction.”
“What instruction?”
Alexander reached into his coat.
He removed a small brass key.
“Wait until his daughter speaks Russian.”
Emma stared at the key.
“What does it open?”
Alexander looked at her.
“I was hoping you would know.”
